HOUSTON, TX (Dec. 15, 2005) – Internationally known
photographer Mark Seliger – widely recognized for his portraits of such
celebrities as Britney Spears, Paul McCartney and Lenny Kravitz – will
bring his collection of portraits of Holocaust survivors to Houston in
a new exhibit opening Jan. 13, 2006 at Holocaust Museum Houston.

The exhibit, “When They Came to Take My Father” runs through April 2
and is free and open to the public. The public is invited to meet
Seliger at a free reception at 7 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2006, at the Museum,
5401 Caroline St., in Houston’s Museum District.

The exhibit will formally open to the public at 9 a.m. on Jan. 13.

Seliger is an editorial photographer who was born in Amarillo, Texas
and raised in Houston. He attended Houston’s High School for Performing
and Visual Arts and later graduated from East Texas State University.
He currently lives and works in New York City and is under contract to
Conde Nast Publications, working for such publications as GQ and Vanity Fair.

Until recently, Seliger was chief photographer for Rolling Stone,
a position he held for more than 10 years, focusing on photo
documentaries of the world’s top musicians and actors. Seliger has
published several books, including: "When They Came To Take My Father:
Voices of the Holocaust,” “Physiognomy,” "Lenny Kravitz/Mark Seliger”
and in October 2005 “In My Stairwell!”

Seliger has shot many humanitarian ad campaigns, including work for
AmFAR, Vote or Die, the MJF Foundation, Keep a Child Alive and done
music packaging projects for Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Lenny Kravitz,
and Paul McCartney and clients such as Rocawear, Tommy Hilfiger, Sony
Music, IBM and Paramount.

His photographs have won countless awards, including the Alfred
Eisenstaedt Photography Award in 1999 and a Gold Award from the Society
of Publication Designers for a GQ story on Will Ferrell in 2004.

His portraits of Holocaust survivors such as Houston brothers Max,
Sol and Sigmund Jucker as well as Houston artist Alice Lok Cahana
combine the experiences of Holocaust survivors with fine portraits
capturing their individual personalities.

Seliger chose to document the history, courage and spirit of that
period by photographing more than 50 survivors of the Holocaust. Twenty
of those portraits will be included in the Houston exhibition.

His book and the photos included in the Museum’s newest exhibition
capture with truth and clarity the stories and images of survival of
the men and women who lived through the brutality of World War II to
triumph over oppression. Their wrenching first-person accounts
accompany their intimate photographs and tell of their Holocaust
experiences with an immediacy that is both mesmerizing and appalling.

The photos and accompanying stories in the new exhibit vary from
those of the misery of the day-by-day experience in the concentration
camps to those that depict the ever mounting dread of having a hiding
place invaded by the German SS troopers and those of families fleeing
and being separated across the world.

Taken together, Seliger’s collection of words and images forms a
moving testimony to human dignity and a record of history that cannot,
and must not, be forgotten.

The exhibit is made possible with the support of Nina and Michael
Zilkha, with special thanks to Continental Airlines, official airline
of Holocaust Museum Houston.

A related exhibit of Seliger’s non-Holocaust photographs opens at
the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston as part of FotoFest 2006 on Feb. 6,
2006.

Holocaust Museum Houston promotes awareness and educates the public
of the dangers of prejudice, hatred and violence against the backdrop
of the Holocaust by fostering remembrance, understanding and education.

Holocaust Museum Houston is free and open to the public and is
located in Houston's Museum District at 5401 Caroline St., Houston, TX,
77004. For more information about Holocaust Museum Houston, call
713-942-8000 or visit www.hmh.org.

Our Public Relations team is eager to assist you in coverage of activities at Holocaust Museum Houston.

All requests for interviews or on-site photography or videography by members of the media must be coordinated in advance through our Public Relations office by calling 713-942-8000, ext. 103 or e-mailing news@hmh.org.

Address and Directions

Holocaust Museum Houston is an accredited member of the American Alliance of Museums.

The Laurie and Milton Boniuk Resource Center and Library is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday. The Library is closed Sundays.

The Museum is closed for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. For other holiday hours, visit the "Events" tab on the Museum’s Web site at www.hmh.org.